Air India flight in double trouble

Guwahati: Eighty-nine people on board a flight from Calcutta to Guwahati had a close shave today after a bird-hit damaged the Airbus A320’s landing gear and two of its tyres burst during an emergency touchdown.
When flight commander Capt. D. Tiwari finally brought IC 229 to a halt on the scorched runway, it was the end of easily the longest 45 minutes for the 82 passengers and seven crew.
That was the time the plane spent circling the airport to use up excess fuel — to help reduce risk while landing — after the bird-hit. With the right landing gear damaged, the plane hit the runway on its left gear and two of the tyres burst on impact. The aircraft tilted to the left before stopping.
Air India officials here said Capt. Tiwari and his co-pilot could not have handled the emergency better. “The flight commander is among the best we have,” one said.
Airport director R. Veeraswami said two of the four tyres on the left burst because they bore almost the entire weight of the plane. The pilots did not risk using the right landing gear because they were not sure how much damage had been caused.
A portion of the steel frame holding the right wheels was found bent.
The aircraft was about 7km from the airport and the pilots were preparing for landing at 11am when the bird-hit occurred. Some passengers suspected something was wrong when they heard a thud and felt the plane vibrate before starting to pick up altitude instead of continuing the descent.
07/02/08 The Telegraph

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Categories: Air India Domestic Feb 2008, airports Feb 2008, NACIL Feb 2008, Safety Feb 2008